1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure is related to mechanisms for soliciting online feedback from users of an online hosted map system for updating and correcting information about map features.
2. Description of the Background Art
Maps frequently include incorrect information and the current approaches to correcting that information are laborious and expensive. On-line maps include much more information than their old paper counterparts. For example, with an online map, users can access phone numbers, opening times, etc., of businesses, such as stores, lodgings, restaurants, and the like. With more items of information on a map, however, there are more possibilities for errors on the map. Correcting errors in map data can include physically going to business locations, doing research on-line or calling the business, depending on the type of information that needs to be verified. This is laborious and expensive.
There are some online map hosting systems that allow individual end users to make suggestions for corrections to the systems' maps. These systems require that a correction proposed by an end user be reviewed and approved by an expert reviewer. In some such approaches, only after a user has built up credibility by having a large number of suggestions approved, are the user's proposed changes accepted without review. This approach is therefore still labor intensive and expensive, requiring a large number of expert reviewers to approve users' suggested changes.
Because of the prevalence of interactive mapping systems that provide users with details about map features beyond an address, users depend on this additional information and expect it to be correct. Inaccuracies in maps are therefore more noticeable and burdensome now than in the past.
Errors from incorrect and outdated data about map features lead to very frustrating user experiences. For example, a user may plan to visit a particular business on Sunday afternoon, based entirely on information from an on-line mapping system indicating that the business is open that day. If the business is in fact closed when the user arrives, the user has wasted significant time and energy on the trip.